Because... yeah. FLCL is great, and its manga adaptation omnibus is great (and a great deal!). It's also kinda packed with symbolism, so I thought I'd reread it, and post my comments/analyses here.I'll be indexing things by page number, because I'm simply not going to bother to upload pictures .

p. 13 (1st page of manga proper, after all the high-quality shots of figures/bonus art):The Medical Mechanica building looks exactly like a clothing iron to me. Huh.

p. 14-17:The Medical Mechanica's white smoke is explicitly called (by Naota) a 'bad omen'. 'Especially when it spreads and covers the whole town', the latter phrase backgrounded by Mamimi stroking Naota's cheek from on top of him.He then gets nervous ('bad omen'), says "we shouldn't be doing this".She says 'If I don't do this, I'll overflow'. 'What do you mean by 'overflow', Mamimi?''Something bad will happen.' she says, leaning in to kiss him. He's already turning his face away.He then gets up, and says "Ugh! You smell like cigarettes!"She says 'I haven't been smoking! Not me, sir!"Naota gets up, ignoring her last line. He turns around, and says to her (still sitting on ground) 'Did my brother send you a letter?'She ignores him, engrossed in her handheld game.He waits, and is disappointed by her silence. Says 'Yeah. I have an older brother.'

All this, IMHO, should be enough to show a powerful connection between Medical Mechanica and Mamimi. Which, makes sense in-story. FLCL is deep enough, that the psychological angles can be explored from several different POVs.

From Mamimi's POV so far: As we know, Mamimi misses Naota's older brother, and is using him as a replacement. She denies the cigarette smoking, which is possibly something she used to do with Brother. If nothing else, cigarette = penis. The smoke is also quite obviously meant to associate her with MM. She denies it... She denies a lot . She's still living in a fantasy of the past.

It's also quite interesting how she's the first one to notice Haruko's arrival. Considering she's so engrossed in her game...Theory: She's not really engrossed in the game. She's just PRETENDING to be, so that she won't have to answer Naota's question about onii-san. Because she wants to uphold her delusion that Naota's the one she wants; she wants to forget about his brother's existence entirely.

Therefore, she has no trouble noticing Haruko. She's glad to have a change of subject (she smiles, and says 'Hey. A vespa.').

Also interesting, because Haruko's role is commonly thought of as an arousal of Naota. And it is, but I wonder if she didn't have a profound impact on Mamimi's development as well.

All right! Continue next time! If anyone has any comments of their own, feel free to share.

My first fanfic: Neon Genesis Craig-InsertionKyoko's Melons: Currently being completely rewritten, so... if anyone liked it so far, great. I did too. But... not enough. ;)